171: Chapter 169: Completely Unreasonable 171: Chapter 169: Completely Unreasonable As Tangyu had expected, these people were indeed the restaurant owners implicated in the mass poisoning incident at Linshan Middle School.
The response from Linshan Middle School was swift and severe, as they carried out a sudden inspection of the seven breakfast eateries within fifty meters of the school entrance and promptly had the health department shut them down.
“Hmph, this matter has nothing to do with you; we’re here for him,” a man in his thirties with a fierce look pointed at Tangyu.
Mo Xiaoqing was also slightly stunned.
With so many people blocking Tangyu at the school entrance, what had Tangyu done to upset them?
Seeing their exceedingly angry expressions, the situation seemed somewhat dangerous, and Mo Xiaoqing looked worriedly at Tangyu.
But she found that Tangyu’s expression was very calm, without any fluctuations.
“I don’t know you, what do you want with me?” Tangyu said calmly.
“Hmph, you might not know us, but we know you.
You’re the new school doctor at Linshan Middle School, right?
Named Tang, correct?
Hmph, we’ve investigated your background.
What’s a mere school doctor doing meddling in so much?” the previously speaking man said angrily.
“We haven’t provoked you, why are you making things difficult for us?”
“Exactly, if you don’t give us a satisfactory explanation today, don’t even think about leaving here in peace.”
The crowd was also expressing their views loudly, each appearing somewhat agitated and angry.
Tangyu looked at the people and said, “What does this incident have to do with me?
I am the school doctor.
Naturally, it’s my duty to investigate the cause when students are poisoned.
As for the school shutting down your eateries, that’s beyond my control.
Your eateries were shut down; you should look for the reasons within yourselves.
Your hygiene standards were not up to par, causing students to be poisoned; you should have anticipated the consequences and expected to pay the appropriate price, even a punishment.
Do you realize how dangerous food poisoning is?
It can be lethal.
If it had actually killed someone, you wouldn’t even be standing here; you should consider yourselves lucky.
The problem lies with you.
Instead of reflecting on yourselves, you engage in these meaningless actions; it’s truly ridiculous.
Furthermore, it was the school that shut down your establishments.
If you want to blame someone, you shouldn’t be blaming me.
If you have the capability, you should take it up with the school.”
Willing to reason, Tangyu still wanted to discuss things rationally first.
After all, these people were also impoverished, earning their living through hard work.
He could somewhat understand their feelings.
However, in this matter, not to mention that it had nothing to do with him, even if it did, it was justified.
Ignoring food hygiene and safety only harms others.
“Pah, you make it sound so light.
You know we can’t fight the school.
Telling us to argue with the school, if we could, we would have done so already instead of blocking you here.
We can’t handle the school, but we definitely won’t let you off.
Isn’t it you who said the students were poisoned by breakfast from the eateries at the school entrance, causing the school to shut down all our eateries?
You are the main culprit,” the man in his thirties spat.
“That’s right, you caused all of this, so you must take responsibility for our losses.”
“Don’t feed us useless talk; we don’t care and don’t want to hear about it.
All we know is our stores were closed because of what you said, and that’s enough reason for us to hold you accountable.”
These people were rough folk; clearly, reasoning with them was not going to work.
After all, people need to eat, and shutting down their shops meant cutting off their source of income and effectively breaking their rice bowls.
Added to that, their anger at the moment meant they were definitely not listening to Tangyu.
“Would you stop being so stubborn and unreasonable?
This matter is entirely caused by your poor hygiene, so you must take responsibility for that.
The closure of your shops undoubtedly reflects that your hygiene standards were below the required level, prompting the demand for improvements.
This is beneficial for both you and others; you should really be focusing on making those improvements.
In this matter, what the school did was right, and what Tangyu did was even more correct; you are just being unreasonable.
If you genuinely feel wronged, you can report it to the relevant authorities.
Acting like this in broad daylight, is there no law anymore?
If you keep this up, I will have to call the police,” Mo Xiaoqing said indignantly.
Hearing about the police, the people’s faces showed a hint of wariness.
However, at that moment, their judgment was clouded by anger, and despite their wariness, Mo Xiaoqing’s words did not make them back down.
“Hmph, if you want to call the police, then go ahead.
We haven’t done anything to you; what good would calling the police do?”
“Don’t lecture us with those so-called principles, nor mention any relevant authorities.
The people can’t fight the officials; we are just poor folks, unable to contend with those in power or argue with you literates.
We only stand by our truth, which is our livelihood.
Whoever threatens our livelihood, we will fight against.
Our eateries are now wrecked because of this Mr.
Tang, and you ask if we aren’t anxious?”
“We’re not the type to be bullied.
If Linshan Middle School had only targeted steamed bun shops, that would have been one thing, but they shut down all of us, and now you claim grievance; to whom shall we complain?” a woman said.
Mo Xiaoqing was briefly stunned; only then did she understand what was going on.
She indeed remembered Tangyu saying that the poisoning was related to steamed buns, and among the breakfast shops at the school entrance, only one sold steamed buns; it must have been this one which had issues.
But the main action taken by Linshan Middle School was to shut down all the breakfast shops.
The extent and magnitude of the action were slightly excessive, but from the perspective of Linshan Middle School, it was understandable.
After all, the mass poisoning incident was significant, involving more than twenty students.
Fortunately, Tangyu had a way to detoxify them in time; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
Therefore, Linshan Middle School underwent extensive inspections and rectifications to prevent such incidents from happening again.
But from the perspective of these shop owners, they felt it was unfair because their businesses were also sealed off due to the steamed bun shop.
Really speaking, both parties couldn’t clear things up.
“With such a major incident, the school naturally had to increase its crackdown and handling of the situation.
You might feel it’s unfair, but there’s nothing you can do about it.
I think it’s just a matter of you guys making some rectifications; they won’t seal your shops for a long time.
This issue is something you can definitely bring up with the school on your own.
Blocking us here won’t help,”
Mo Xiaoqing said, coming from a poor family herself, she did have a degree of sympathy for these impoverished people.
However, regarding this matter, it was really unclear who was right and who was wrong.
“Why, just because you think you have power, you can oppress us at will, seal our shops without even a word?”
“We can’t even enter the school, how can we report anything?
Either you handle this matter for us, allowing us to resume business normally tomorrow, or we will have to vent our anger on that Tang surname,”
Tangyu looked at them and said, “I can only say I understand your situation.
But sorry, we are neither capable nor authorized to resolve this for you.
But ask yourselves, have your sanitary conditions truly met the standards?”
“Funny, what we run is just a breakfast shop, not some grand hotel.
If it were that clean, would it still be called a breakfast shop?”
“I’ve been running my shop here for over a dozen years.
It has always been this way.
What’s unclean?
Nobody has ever gotten sick from eating at my place.
It’s just you cultured people who like to come and hoodwink us with all these regulations,”
“Stop the nonsense, just ask him directly if he plans to resolve this matter for us, why waste words talking to him,”
Seeing that these people were unreasonable and were considering getting physical, Tangyu also snorted lightly.
When something goes wrong, it’s inevitable that people are held accountable.
Although it’s possible they were somewhat affected by that bun shop, the school’s actions were not unreasonable.
Today it may be the bun shop that posed a problem; tomorrow, who knows which other shop might have issues.
It’s something the students cannot withstand, and for their safety, stringent rectification is perfectly justified.
“How this issue is resolved depends on you, not on me.
I am just a humble school doctor, neither having the power to influence the school nor the capacity to help you get through this.
This closure, I believe, will last no more than a couple of weeks at most.
As long as you rectify appropriately, you can reopen after half a month.
It’s not a permanent closure of your shops,” Tangyu said.
“Hmph, it seems he refuses to admit his mistake.
Let’s not waste our breath anymore; if we don’t teach him a lesson, he won’t back down,” the man in his thirties said coldly.
Although everyone was extremely angry, they hesitated a bit about hitting someone.
After all, they knew that hitting people was not really going to solve any problems and might only complicate matters further.
“What are you trying to do?
Don’t mess around, or I’ll call for help right now,” Mo Xiaoqing said worriedly.
Tangyu gave a chilly smile and said to the crowd, “What you should do now is go home and wait half a month.
I’ve already told you everything; if you insist on making a fuss, it won’t be beneficial for you.”
“Hmph, still daring to threaten us, courting death.” The thirty-something-year-old man snorted angrily and swung his fist, charging at Tangyu.
The others hesitated, unsure whether to join in.
Tangyu glanced at them, sidestepped, and swept his foot at the man’s foot, causing the man to leap into the air and suddenly lose his balance, falling forward heavily onto the ground.
The fall was hard enough to cause his nose to bleed and his knee to ache; he couldn’t get up right away.
“Damn,” the man roared, picking up a sharp stone from the ground and lunging at Tangyu again, his expression turning fierce.
Seeing this, the others were increasingly worried and unsure of what to do.
A flash of light crossed Tangyu’s eyes.
In a quick move, he rushed at the man, grabbed his wrist, and with a sudden twist, pulled it back, altering its trajectory straight towards his own head.
Caught off guard by this sudden turn, the man was quite frightened; such a sharp stone might indeed bore a hole in his head if it struck.
The others watched the scene in shock.
Mo Xiaoqing stood by, somewhat in shock herself, her heart twisting with the unfolding scene.